Geoffrey was born on 26th March 1893 in Witham, Essex. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in January 1906. In 1913, Geoffrey was commissioned as an acting Sub-Lieutenant and posted to the HMS Vanguard, a St Vincent class dreadnought battleship. He was serving aboard her at the outbreak of the First World War.

In December 1914, Geoffrey was posted to HMS Agincourt until August 1915, when he transferred to a shore base due to illness. On 18th January 1917, he was posted to join the crew of HMS Satyr, an “R” Class Destroyer. The HMS Satyr was involved in the sinking of the German Destroyer S20 off the coast of Flanders the following June. Under heavy fire from the shore batteries HMS Satyr's crew went to rescue seven men from the sinking S20. A feat for which the ship's commander was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Geoffrey was among several to be “Mentioned in Despatches”.

Geoffrey served on two more ships before the end of the war, the HMS Mystic and HMS Gabriel, both of which were “M” Class Destroyers. He resigned from the Navy on 31st March 1919 and was placed on the “Emergency List” in case hostilities were restarted. Geoffrey married Mildred Elizabeth (Betty) Bowyer on 27th November 1917 and their son John Anthony was born in April 1919, just after Geoffrey left the Navy. The marriage was not to last however and they were divorced in 1924. After joining his parents and sisters in British Columbia, Canada, Geoffrey married again in 1925. His second wife’s name was Mysie Gertrude Douglass.

In the Second World War Geoffrey served in the Canadian Navy as a Captain. In December 1944, he was appointed chief of naval equipment and supply. Geoffrey had also been awarded the OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours earlier that year. His son, John, was killed on 17th August 1944 while serving with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. In later life, Geoffrey returned to Britain and was living in Brighton when he died in 1980. For his war service in the First World War, Geoffrey received the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals with an Oak Leaf Clasp.